From the big city to the big country

Fresh Air Fund looking for local host families

Each year, a group of kids from the Fresh Air Fund, like this group pictured in 2009 in Charlton, visit host families in the area for a week of summer vacation. The program is in the process of seeking more host families. (click for larger version)

February 21, 2011

There are very simple things that small-town children take for granted and do on a regular basis that are foreign to many inner-city children.

Simple acts like riding a bike or swimming in a pool or ocean are as foreign to them as skyscrapers and subways are to many rural residents.

With warmer weather on most of our minds, the Fresh Air Fund is starting to look for host families in the area to take part in the program popular exchange program.

Each year, children in all five boroughs of New York City sign up for the project through different organizations, such as churches, after-school programs and youth groups. They come to the "country" for a one- or two-week visit with host families.

Over time, many children visit the same home frequently, developing relationships with families that last a lifetime.

For more on this story, please see tomorrow's Southbridge Evening News.